Monday
May092011
Gender bias transcends class and caste in India
Monday, May 9, 2011 at 7:35AM
By Glenn Fawcett
Executive Director of Field Operations
Over the past couple of weeks and since my first blog on this subject more Indian Census data has been coming to light about the practice of prenatal sex determination and the issue has remained one of the most written about and reported in the Indian media.
A mother with her two sons
A wry twist in the census data reported that while Haryana, the state in which our work area Mewat is located, has turned in some of the worst gender ratios in the country, rural Mewat's ratio is among the best. This was reflected in a The Tribune article dated April 5: “Mewat, considered to be the most backward area in the state, has the lowest literacy rate of 56.1 per cent but the best sex ratio of 906 women per 1000 men.” The state itself is ranked lowest in the country on that count with 877 girls per 1000 boys! The article further reveals that Gurgaon, the shining IT capital of north India, with one of highest female literacy figures in the state at 77.64%, has one of the worst sex ratios at 853 per 1000.
The data appears to support the case that more literate, well-to-do urban families are exercising their preference for boy children, but I suspect there are plenty of examples of villages like the Gurha village in Jhajjar district of Haryana, population 3,000. Locals there blame the alarming sex ratio of 774 girls for every 1,000 boys (for ages 0-6, the lowest in not only Haryana but all of India) on the widespread availability of ultrasound services and the lack of regulation of its use for sex determination. The argument is not so clearly defined between urban and rural as it may appear.
While there is a divide between largely unlettered rustics and literate urbanites, I suggest their reasons for preferring boys are not much different – in Indian society the risk and burden of raising a girl is greater, no matter what caste or economic class. An urban family may have to pay an arm and a leg in dowry to get a “good, educated boy with earning prospects.” Villagers will not be economically impacted to the same degree, but in terms of keeping the girl “safe” their worries are greater. Villages are notorious for elopements, which could ruin the family name. At the very least, the young lovers are excommunicated from their family and community for all time. The most extreme cases end up in double murders of the children, perpetrated by and with consent of their families.
Thus the problem is much greater than economics, education and lifestyle. In subsequent posts, I will suggest policy solutions as well as discuss what Lotus Outreach is doing on the ground to change pervasive attitudes against women.
Precious and equal
Executive Director of Field Operations
Over the past couple of weeks and since my first blog on this subject more Indian Census data has been coming to light about the practice of prenatal sex determination and the issue has remained one of the most written about and reported in the Indian media.
A mother with her two sonsA wry twist in the census data reported that while Haryana, the state in which our work area Mewat is located, has turned in some of the worst gender ratios in the country, rural Mewat's ratio is among the best. This was reflected in a The Tribune article dated April 5: “Mewat, considered to be the most backward area in the state, has the lowest literacy rate of 56.1 per cent but the best sex ratio of 906 women per 1000 men.” The state itself is ranked lowest in the country on that count with 877 girls per 1000 boys! The article further reveals that Gurgaon, the shining IT capital of north India, with one of highest female literacy figures in the state at 77.64%, has one of the worst sex ratios at 853 per 1000.
The data appears to support the case that more literate, well-to-do urban families are exercising their preference for boy children, but I suspect there are plenty of examples of villages like the Gurha village in Jhajjar district of Haryana, population 3,000. Locals there blame the alarming sex ratio of 774 girls for every 1,000 boys (for ages 0-6, the lowest in not only Haryana but all of India) on the widespread availability of ultrasound services and the lack of regulation of its use for sex determination. The argument is not so clearly defined between urban and rural as it may appear.
While there is a divide between largely unlettered rustics and literate urbanites, I suggest their reasons for preferring boys are not much different – in Indian society the risk and burden of raising a girl is greater, no matter what caste or economic class. An urban family may have to pay an arm and a leg in dowry to get a “good, educated boy with earning prospects.” Villagers will not be economically impacted to the same degree, but in terms of keeping the girl “safe” their worries are greater. Villages are notorious for elopements, which could ruin the family name. At the very least, the young lovers are excommunicated from their family and community for all time. The most extreme cases end up in double murders of the children, perpetrated by and with consent of their families.
Thus the problem is much greater than economics, education and lifestyle. In subsequent posts, I will suggest policy solutions as well as discuss what Lotus Outreach is doing on the ground to change pervasive attitudes against women.
Precious and equal
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